Hello Everyone, I want to bring you up to speed on what’s been happening in Tennessee. I was under the weather with some bug but by last Tuesday, the 6th, I was up and going again. The farrier was scheduled and came out to lower Dream’s stacks. I told Dream that this was the last time he would be in that high of stacks.
Dream was a good boy and stood patiently while the farrier worked on removing the horrible stacks.
The farrier got one stack removed then worked on getting the other one off.
The large stacks were removed and Dream was going to be placed in a smaller set of stacks. He went from an almost 5″ stack to a 2″ stack. This will help him adjust slowly so his tendons will not be damaged while he transitions to flat shod.
The farrier discovered that maggots were living under one of the stacks in his hoof. Very disturbing, poor Dream!
After a nice trim job the smaller stacks were put on. When the strap was being put over his hoof to tighten down the stack, Dream knew what was happening and got very agitated. Poor guy, he didn’t understand that it was the last time he will ever have to wear stacks, and it wasn’t tightened down as much as the previous farrier did.
After it was all done Dream was happy to be in his stall eating hay with his smaller stacks. The next part of his rehab will be to put him into a heavy flat shoe with possibly a single pad or wedges. We have an excellent farrier who is doing everything he can to keep Dream healthy and has his best interest at heart.
The next day, Wednesday, Dream found himself at the vet. I told him that everything was going to be just fine, but he wasn’t too convinced when I told him he was going to have his cryptorchid surgery.
Thursday I found an office trailer for sale on Craigslist. We have been going round and round trying to figure out how to get an office up at the shelter. It was decided that an office trailer would be the cheapest way to go. It was a beautiful drive there.
The owner of the office trailer said he could get it loaded onto our flatbed since it didn’t have any axles on the office trailer. After checking it out we agreed to purchase it.
Before too long it was safely on the trailer and we were headed back to the shelter. The office is an 8′ x 20′. It was 10:30 at night before we got back with the office, so we just unhooked and left unloading it for later.
Friday morning Jason hooked up the horse trailer and I headed off for a busy day.
First I had to meet up with a Sheriff deputy who had been working on a case with a pony who was running loose in the neighborhood. Someone put it in a dog kennel so it wouldn’t get hit on the road.
When I arrived, sure enough, there was a pony in a dog kennel.
Poor little guy was so skinny! The sheriff told me the owners had agreed to surrender him as they didn’t have the money to care for him.
He got loaded up in the trailer. I got all the information I could from the sheriff about the previous owner. Then I hit the road again.
I headed to the vet office to pick up Dream, who was a little subdued seeming. The vet said his cryptorchid gelding surgery went well, but Dream didn’t look like he thought so.
In the vet office I paid for the bill and got the receipt.
Some people questioned that it would cost $2,000 to geld a cryptorchid stallion. We have done a few cryptorchid surgeries before, and they are never cheap. It is a major surgery and are always very pricey. When I dropped Dream off I had to put a $500 deposit down, and then pay the remainder when I picked him up. I would like to thank everyone who donated to make his surgery possible!
Dream was very happy to get out of his stall and head to the trailer. I had put the pony all the way in the front and Dream was going in the very back with an empty compartment in the middle.
Dream was happy to get back in his stall at the shelter even though it wasn’t as fancy as the vet office.
The pony, Jake, wanted out of the trailer too. He was practically begging to get out.
Jake was very happy to see that he had a nice big pen waiting for him. So much better than a dog kennel!
Jake headed over to meet Ace. The two seemed to hit it off great.
Ace is doing really good. He is filling out nicely and looks so much better than when I first rescued him. He still has a long ways to go but is looking great.
This was Ace when I rescued him in July. He was so emaciated. If you missed his rescue blog, click here.
Monday morning Jason and Darin were moving the office trailer onto the shelter facility.
Jason backed the trailer into the little creek so the deck height was close to the ground.
Then Darin used his truck and pulled the office right off the trailer. The plan worked great and before long the office was sitting on the ground.
Then Darin dragged it to the right place.
Then they got to work leveling it. They got it leveled and secured and it was ready for use.
I was very excited to finally have a place to keep all the paperwork and have it filed. One of our volunteers got to work filling out and filing the paperwork for the auction horses that just came in.
Jason hung our banner on the fence so people know where we are! I have a feeling that we are going to have a ton of dogs and cats, and all kinds of critters, dumped off behind the banner. I sure hope not though, but as there is no animal shelter for an hour drive in any direction, nothing will surprise me.
Later that afternoon we had some visitors! They were looking to adopt some horses and fell in love with Ace. Ace is at the point where he can be adopted into the right home where they can finish his rehab. I know these people are qualified and will do a great job with him.
They also fell in love with little Jake. They decided they want to adopt both of them. We need to get Jake gelded before he can go home though. We are so happy for these two special horses who will have such a wonderful home and many happy years in front of them.
Parcey wanted to have the last photo in the blog. He is such a big baby who is loving Tennessee. He definitely enjoys all the green grass back here.
Thank you all for your support!
